President Trump signed a bill that calls for sanctions on China in response to their brutal mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims on Wednesday afternoon. This bill, which would require Trump to revoke officials’ entry visas if they’re found to be connected to the internment of the Uyghur population, was signed after John R. Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor, released his explosive book.
While Trump has previously been relatively quiet on the humanitarian crisis occurring within China’s borders, Bolton’s new novel alleged that, behind closed doors, Trump approved of the reasons Chinese President Xi Jinping “was basically building concentration camps,” for the minority Uyghur population, saying “he thought [building the camps] was exactly the right thing to do.”
Though there was no official ceremony held for the signing, Trump has now said that the bill “holds accountable perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses such as the systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labor, and intrusive surveillance to eradicate the ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uyghurs and other minorities and other minorities in China,” in a statement released after the bill was signed.
The legislation also requires Trump to submit a report to Congress detailing any foreign official responsible for the crisis, increasing the already high tensions between the US and China.
“We urge the US side to immediately correct its mistakes, and stop using the bill to damage China’s interests and interfere in China’s internal affairs otherwise China will resolutely take countermeasures,” said the Chinese foreign ministry in a statement.
Although Trump has been publicly berating China since the coronavirus outbreak, Bolton also alleges that Trump personally reached out to Xi Jinping to ask for help in winning the 2020 election.